Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Hypericum androsaemum cultivar Bright Blossom.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hypericum plant, botanically known as Hypericum androsaemum, commercially used as cut stems with fruits, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Bright Blossomxe2x80x99.
The new Hypericum was discovered and selected in June, 1998, by the Inventors in a controlled environment in Burgh Haamstede, The Netherlands, as a naturally-occurring whole plant mutation of the Hypericum cultivar Autumn Blaze, not patented. The new Hypericum was discovered within a population of plants of the cultivar Autumn Blaze and was selected on the basis of itslight red-colored fruits.
Asexual reproduction of the new Hypericum by terminal cuttings taken at Burgh Haamstede, The Netherlands since July, 1999, has shown that the unique features of this new Hypericum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Bright Blossomxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Bright Blossomxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright and outwardly spreading plant habit.
2. Dark green-colored leaves.
3. Light red-colored fruits.
4. Good postproduction longevity.
Plants of the new Hypericum differ primarily from plants of the parent cultivar in fruit coloration as plants of the cultivar Autumn Blaze have brown-colored fruits.
Plants of the new Hypericum can be compared to plants of the Hypericum cultivar Excellent Flair, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Burgh Haamstede, The Netherlands, plants of the new Hypericum differed from plants of the cultivar Excellent Flair in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Hypericum had darker green-colored leaves than plants of the cultivar Excellent Flair.
2. Plants of the new Hypericum had smaller fruits than plants of the cultivar Excellent Flair.
3. Plants of the new Hypericum had light red-colored fruits whereas plants of the cultivar Excellent Flair had brown-colored fruits.